In the available art of position tracking and control systems, the three dimensional position coordinates of the mobile object can be determined in a variety of ways. In recent years, the global positioning satellite (GPS) receivers and the receivers that use the alternative satellite systems, like GLONASS system, came of age and began to proliferate widely. The autonomous navigational system that includes the satellite receiver and a navigational computer can achieve the 10-meter level of accuracy in the position determination of the mobile object.
The differential navigation systems that utilize the differential corrections in addition to the satellite signals can determine the positional information with the meter-range accuracy. The real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS systems that are capable of utilizing in real time not only code abut also the carrier information transmitted from satellites can achieve the centimeter level of accuracy in the position determination of the mobile object.
However, the millimeter level of accuracy is still beyond the reach of the satellite navigational systems. The prior art rotating laser-based systems can define the plane level (Z-plane) with a millimeter level of accuracy. However, these prior art laser-based systems can not be used for the purposes of three dimensional navigation of mobile objects because they are configured to determine only one (Z) coordinate of a mobile object. What is needed is the laser-based system that can be used for the purposes of precise three dimensional navigation of a mobile object.